In HB.DIG #149, Gregg TeHennepe asks about the danger of a hop or two
getting into the primary fermenter. This is no problem at all. Relax.
Read up on dry hopping in a (younger) homebrew book.

Pete Soper talks about increasing pH with boiling. I interpret this as
a concentration of the alkaline ions. I recommend stop boiling the water.
If you want to sterilize it, simply heat it to boiling. Try acidifying
it with, say, citric acid. Anyone have a better method?